With the bees in the vanguard, the group moved forward until the mages detected another group of monsters for them to attack.

This one was led by a pair of Ettin Mages, Ogre sized two headed casters. One head was a warrior, the other was a mage, and they shared control. But that also meant that they were proficient both in magic and at fighting.

"So many Goblins." Bella whispered as the group came into view.

"If we find out where they’ve been breeding them, we will have to call in an extra attack." Dominic agreed.

Goblin women were rare, the species usually used captured prisoners as brood mares for litters of their offspring. Finding where they kept them was normally the priority of any extermination effort.

Especially when there were thousands upon thousands of the vile creatures.

Again, the bees swarmed forward, but the Ettin Mage countered with a [Fireball] that wiped out half the swarm before it could get to the target. Then the fight was on, with the Ettin commanding a wave of Hobgoblins forward to engage the gunslingers before the Goblins surrounded their group.

The assumption that the gunslingers were the strongest members of the team was only natural, as few Commanders would put their most vulnerable members out front to start a battle against ranged attackers.

The Hobgoblin spears arced through the air, only to shatter against [Area Barrier] spells cast by the mages, while the gunslingers filled the creatures with holes.

The new mana pistols in Amie’s hands flashed with fire as she shot, her rounds enhanced with [Explosion] spells that reached their target at supersonic speed, thanks to the pistols.

The detonations rippled through the front rank of Hobgoblins, causing them to stumble, and the row behind to run over them in their haste to engage the adventurers.

The Ettin Mage was hurling fireballs at them now, which the mages were intercepting. But the Hobgoblins were too plentiful, and they were going to make it to the front lines.

Dominic created a fresh [Bee Swarm] among the Goblins in the back ranks, then turned to allow the warriors to move past him and take point, using spears to halt the charge of the Hobgoblins.

The Warriors spread out in pairs, letting them assist each other, while the gunslingers still had room to fire between them as they were encircled by the defensive ring of warriors.

It was a well-practiced tactic, one that Dominic had seen from even the Royal Paladins when they were hunting Goblins.

"Focus on the Ettins. We will take out the green beasts." Bella instructed as Dominic blasted another pair of Hobgoblins.

"The mages are on it." Amie shouted back as she gleefully emptied her pistols into the enemy.

At level twenty, with all the enhanced damage of a rare grade weapon and a [Firebolt] spell, she was shooting fist-sized holes through her targets with every shot.

And she was an excellent shot.

Dominic continued his work, then cast a [Group Stamina Refresh] on the warriors as they switched from spears to shorter ranged weapons.

It was better to keep them as fresh as he could in the early hours of the day.

A Hobgoblin raised a might club over his head, ready to squash a warrior, before Dominic put an [Arcane Blast] through its forehead. The warrior kicked it over backward, and Dominic saw that there were no more Hobgoblins coming.

The surviving Goblins were coming fast, still harassed by bees and covered in stings. But their hide was tough, and the bees were still just bees. The spell scaled with increased volume, not damage.

For his next few shots, Dominic added a [Fireball] to the rounds, and ten metre wide circles around the target were scorched clean with each hit.

It was not easy on his stamina, but the charred corpses of the Goblins were stacking up fast.

He adjusted the output of the spell down from the full level thirteen, making it level six, and found that the Goblins still died just as quickly, but the mana requirement was vastly lower.

That was something that he would have to remember in the future. Arcane Blast only had one setting. "Yes". But every other spell, the ones he had learned the traditional way, could be set how he wanted it.

The second Ettin Mage fell with a grunt of pain as lightning pierced its hide, leaving the remaining Goblins leaderless, and easy pickings for a group of skilled adventurers.

"Good work, everyone. Did we take any injuries?" Dominic asked as they finished the fight.

"Nothing major. A few scratches, not enough to slow us down." Wiz replied.

Today was a wonderful day for the big berserker. Two major fights back to back, and he had gotten to properly fight in one, while the other was all free loot.

The [Group Stamina Refresh] had all the warriors in an excellent mood, and even the mages were still looking well rested.

"Alright. Make sure that everything is looted before we move on. Mages, check the Ettin, it’s most likely to drop an item you need." Dominic ordered.

Sharing cores was one thing, but items from the monster blessings tended to be personalized to the one who looted the corpse.

"This should be a good spot for a portal as well. If we just move a bit further back into the trees, they can assemble an army unit on location without getting into the patrol routes of the monster horde." The older of the mages suggested.

"Do what you need to do. And radio in, so that my wife doesn’t murder me when we get home." Dominic agreed.

Wiz laughed, then spoke in his best imitation of a sage tone. "I see that you’ve adjusted well to the life of a married man. But we’ve only gone a kilometre and we’ve had two fights. There is no way that we’re going to circle the army in one day at this rate."

Dominic nodded. "That’s what I’m thinking as well. We might need to do what we can and then retreat for the night, to finish tomorrow morning.

The army might also use our beacons as a template as they deploy. They help, but the mages back in Wistover can also use the skimming technique to place portals, I assume.

I’m not one hundred percent clear on how it works, but I think it’s a form of farseeing, where they send energy out to look around a specific point."

Amie nodded. "Exactly. The range is limited, but you send your mana out to scout an area, looking for something specific. That’s why we had to arrive near a group of monsters. Looking for open grassland in a general area might have put us dozens of kilometres away."